The projected cost of Lockheed
Martin’s new Joint Strike Fighter has increased 60 to 90 percent in
real terms since 2001, blowing well past a level requiring the program
to be revamped, Pentagon officials said Thursday.

And even though the military is trying to deal with the problems,
Congressional auditors said the program — the Pentagon’s largest — was
likely to continue to increase in cost and suffer more delays.

The assessments, released at a Senate hearing in Washington, provided a
reminder of the extent of the cost overruns in major weapons programs
and showed how hard they can be to resolve.

The latest estimates were embarrassing to Lockheed Martin, the largest
military contractor, and to the defense secretary, Robert M.
Gates.

Last summer, Mr. Gates promoted the new jet, called the F-35, when he
urged Congress to halt production of the F-22 fighter plane. Some senators now say
they might not have made that decision if they had known about the
problems with the F-35.

Christine H. Fox, the Pentagon’s top cost evaluator, said at Thursday’s
hearing that the estimated price of each F-35 had jumped to $80 million
to $95 million, as measured in 2002 dollars, from $50 million when
Lockheed Martin was awarded the contract in 2001.

She said her office was still refining the cost estimate, which equals
$95 million to $113 million for each plane in current dollars.

Under a 15-year-old law, the Pentagon has to notify Congress when the
cost of military equipment exceeds the original projection by more than
25 percent.